Film Room: The Panthers' playoff-altering, game-winning Week 14 drive

With playoff positioning hanging in the balance and an eye toward moving into a tie for first place in the NFC South, the Carolina Panthers went back to work on offense against the Minnesota Vikings with just over three minutes left, game tied at 24.

Having squandered a 24-13 lead, the Panthers did not want this game to get away from them. Five plays later, they took the lead for good and knocked the Vikings out of the top spot in the NFC.

Let’s dive into that fateful final drive.

The drive started at the 25-yard line. The Panthers come out with three wide receivers, one running back and one tight end. Greg Olsen motions out of trips and bounces back.

Cam Newton pitches left to Christian McCaffrey, who tries to cut back on the outside, using the block of Russell Shepherd. The pursuit from the Vikings got there, but McCaffrey picked up five yards.

The Panthers now have three tight ends on the field. Olsen starts in the backfield and then motions left, lining up on the line of scrimmage with Ed Dickson and Chris Manhertz to the right.

This is exactly what offenses dream up with the option. The defensive end sheds his block from Matt Kalil. but you see him eyeing Jonathan Stewart all the way, even following him into the hole. That creates another hole for Newton as Kalil then takes care of the linebacker, leaving a lot of room to run. A nice juke also gets rid of the safety and Cam is off to the races. He’s eventually caught by Trae Waynes, but not before a gain of 62.

Almost the same formation here on first and goal with three tight ends. This time, Newton hands off to Stewart. The defensive end is disciplined here, staying home, ready for either runner. So when Stewart gets the handoff, he crashes down and helps clog up the hole, limiting Stewart to a gain of three.

Three tight ends again, this time with Dickson lined up at fullback. The blocks are there but the Minnesota cornerback does a good job playing by the force defender. He’s in a position where he won’t allow Stewart to get outside of him, forcing him inside and making the tackle at the one-yard line.

For the touchdown we see three tight ends one more time, as well as Taylor Moton reporting as eligible.

Dickson motions to the middle to provide an extra inside blocker. Manhertz, out of the fullback position, gets an excellent block on his defender. The offensive line gets just enough push at the line of scrimmage for Stewart to get one of his patented touchdown leaps in for his third score of the game.

That would wind up being the winning score, as the Panthers held on, 31-24.